Security device for a door

ABSTRACT

A security device for a door is disclosed which includes a holding element fixed to a stud of a room wall in a manner to shear the stud upon movement of the holding element toward the inside of the secured room. A locking means comprised by the holding element extends through the wall into the interior of the secured room, and a high strength security element bridging the handle-equipped edge of the door is releasably fastened at one end to the locking means and is received at its opposite end so as to extend along the surface of the door secured thereby.

O Unlted States Patent 1 [1 1 3,863,968

Fraser Feb. 4, 1975 SECURITY DEVICE FOR A DOOR Primary Examiner-Richard E. Moore Inventor: Myron B. Fraser E- S Attorney, Agent, 0! FirmJOSeph B. Gardner Oakland, Calif. 94606 [22] Filed: Oct. 25, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 409,609 A security device for a door is disclosed which includes a holding element fixed to a stud of a room wall in a manner to shear the stud upon movement of the holding element toward the inside of the Secured [58] 260 room. A locking means comprised by the holding elele 0 ment extends through the wall into the interior of the secured room, and a high strength security element [56] References cued bridging the handle-equipped edge of the door is re- UNITED STATES PATENTS leasably fastened at one end to the locking means and 255,974 4/1882 Hamlin 292/260 is received at its opposite end so as to extend along the surface of the door secured thereby.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures SECURITY DEVICE FOR A noon BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is self-evident that it is desirable to secure the interior of rooms against unwanted invasion. In this respect, householders desire to be secure against burglaries and other unauthorized intrusions, and business or governmental institutions frequently require a secure room for keeping confidential materials and other valuables.

Maintaining a secure room that is not occupied involves problems of creating methods of access that cannot be duplicated by others. Maintaining a secure room that is occupied simply requires a method for preventing opening the door to the room from the outside. In this specification certain terms are used in a broad sense. The word inside means the interior space of an enclosure to be secured and could include an entire structure of many individual rooms or compartments as well as a single room. The term door means a closure for any access opening and includes ordinary doors as well as windows, hatches and other means of access.

THE INVENTION This invention pertains to a device to secure the door of an occupied room. The device of this invention in effect makes the door of the occupied room as secure as the wall ofthe room. The invention includes, in combination with a wall having frame members such as studs that may or may not be load bearing supports, a door frame and a hingedly mounted door that is usually inwardly opening, a holding element fixed to a'frame member in a wall adjacent the knob or handleequipped edge of the door in a manner such that movement of the holding element toward the inside of the room will cause the support to shear, a locking means which is either part of the holding element or fixed thereto so as to extend from the holding element through the inside surface of the wall and into the interior of the room, and a security element which is a high tensile strength element that is fastenable at both ends in such a position that it bridges the handle-equipped edge of the door and at least one end is releasably fastened to the locking means.

The invention can be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view generally depicting a door having a security element in accordance with this invention in place;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view, taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 with the door and door frame removed, illustrating a holding element suitable for use in this invention fixed to a wall support and a security element;

FIG. 2A illustrates an alternative form of connection for the security element at one end thereof;

FIG. 3 is a partially broken away view of a modified security element embodying this invention;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are broken sectional views of modified holding elements suitable for use in this invention; and

FIG. 7 is a broken vertical sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, the area generally designated 10 is the inner surface of a wall of a room to be made secure. The wall 10 includes a door frame 11 and a door 12 which are illustrated as being conventionally hung so that the door opens into the room. The door 12 is provided with a conventional handle or knob 13 and lock 15 as well as hinges 16. The door is additionally provided with a security means which includes locking means 17 adapted to hold the security element 18 in place. The door 12 is adapted to swing inwardly so that the opening motion of the door causes the knobequipped edge to hit the security element 18 thereby preventing the door from opening.

The locking means 17 may include one or more elements extending through the wall 10 and fixed at their other ends to a holding element 20, as shown in FIG. 2. The locking means may be fairly simple, for example a threaded shaft, or it may be a more complicated device such a notched element or an eye which can receive a bolt or padlock, neither of which are shown. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the holding element is a U-bolt 20, and the locking means are simply the threaded legs 17 of the U-bolt. The locking means extend through a suitable slot 21 in the security element 18, and the security element is held in place by wing nuts 22 that bridge the slot 21 and bear against the security element. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 7, the left-hand wing nut is in a fastening position bridging or spanning the slot to hold the security element 18 in place, and the right-hand wing nut is in a release position in alignment with the slot 21 so that it can slide over the wing nut 22 to release the security element and permit the door to be opened. The different positions of the wing nuts 22 in FIG. 2 are for illustration purposes; and normally when the door is to be secured, both wing nuts will be in the position of the left-hand wing nut 22, while when the door is to be opened, both wing nuts will be in the position of the right-hand wing nut 22.

The holding element 20 encircles a wall stud 23 so that forcing of the door would require shearing of the wall stud by pulling the U-bolt holding element 20 completely through the stud 23, wall board 25, and into the interior of the room being secured. When security such as illustrated in FIG. 2 is to be installed, it is better to install it during construction of the room wall, and at that time a groove may be placed in the rear portion of the wall stud 23, as illustrated at 26, so that base of the U-bolt 20 does not protrude into the wall covering on the exterior side of the wall of the room being secured.

The security element 18 maybe any suitable element having sufficient tensile strength to resist breaking when someone tries to force the door 12 open. The element 18 may be a strap of steel or other strong metal, a strap of steel that is covered with rubber or otherv material possibly engraved to make it more esthetically acceptable. The end of the security element 18 that is not fastened to the locking means 17 must be fastened on the other side of the knob edge of the door. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the other side of the security element (denoted 18a) may be fastened by suitable screws 27 directly into the door 12. If the door 12 is a solid core door, this means of fastening is suitable because the action of forcing the door 12 would require shearing the screws 27 rather than pulling them out of the holes in the door.

FIG. 3 illustrates one suitable security element 18b for use with this invention and it is intended to be illustrative rather than limiting on the scope of the invention. The security element of FIG. 3 is comprised of an end coupling plate 30 containing a slot 31, and the plate is connectable to a stranded cable 32 by way of a drilled extension 33 on the edge of the plate 30. The

stranded cable 32 is embedded in a rubber or other elastomeric body 35, shown only partially in FIG. 3.

The rubber body or coating for cable 32 will prevent the cable from becoming entangled, will prevent marring of the door or door frame, and will permit the security device to be installed and removed without noise. The rubber coating 35 may extend entirely across the plate 30 leaving only the interior of the slot 31 with exposed metal, or it may cover only the cable. If substantial articulation of the joint between the cable 32 and the plate 30 is desired, the rubber coating 35 should not cover the extension 33 whereby a hinge-like joint is created at the extension.

If the security element 18 extends entirely across the door as illustrated in FIG. 1, it may be provided with a readily fastenable means on the knob side and a more permanent fastening on the hinge side so that the security element will always be on the door and ready for use. However, if the security device is to be employed only intermittently, easily removable fasteners may be employed on both sides of the door, as FIG. 1 depicts.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate various holding elements that may be used in this invention which are particularly adapted to being installed to hold the door after construction of the building is complete. The wall supports adjacent the door frame are accessible by removing the door casing. Slots or holes in the plaster or wallboard may be made to gain access to the studs, and these may be covered by the trim along the doorway. Thus, in FIG. 4, by removing the casing on the right side of the door and by cutting a slot in the plasterboard, the holding element c may be installed with the locking means 170 extending into the interior of the room. The holding element 200 may be installed by drilling a hole in stud 23c to receive the base 38, and the screw illustrated may prevent the base 38 from pulling out of the stud 230. A force exerted inwardly on the locking means 17c as illustrated in FIG. 4 would require shearing of the stud 23c to pull the holding element 20c free from the stud 23c.

If it is desired to have the locking element farther from the door, an arrangement such as illustrated in FIG. 5 may be employed. In FIG. 5 the holding element 20d may be screwed directly into the side of stud 23d along the side of the stud that faces the interior of the room to be secured. The locking means 17d may then extend into the room from virtually any position, shown here at the right hand extremity of the stud. With the arrangement illustrated, an inward force on the holding element 17d could not pull the screw 40 directly from its hole in stud 23 because of the screw 41 at right angles to it, and similarly the screw 41 could not be pulled directly from its hole by a diagonal thrust on the locking element 17d because screw 40 would be forced to move in a manner to tear out the lower right-hand corner of the stud 23d. Accordingly, the illustration of FIG. 5 will attach the holding element 20d to the stud 23d in such a manner that forcing a door secured by locking means 17d will result in destruction of the stud 23d.

Still another holding element that may be later installed is illustrated in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6 enough wallboard would have to be cut away to permit sliding the two opposing legs of the holding element 20e over the stud 23e. Access to the left side by removing the door casing would then permit drilling a hole through the stud 23e and inserting the bolt 42 into the hold so that it engages a threaded hole on the opposite side of the holding element 20e.

It is evident that the embodiments illustrated herein are exemplary only and that many other holding elements may be formed within the broad scope of this invention so long as they are affixed to a wall support, whether wood or metal, in such a manner that pulling the holding element from its connection with the wall support will result in destruction thereof. By this means, one seeking entry into a secured room might just as well break a hole through the wall as to attempt to use the door, because in both instances destruction of the wall of the room is required to'gain entry and in most cases an intruder has neither the time, the tools nor the inclination to engage in such an extensive undertaking.

It will be understood that the orientation of the security device 18 and the precise shape thereof are not critical, and while the device is shown to be horizontal in the drawings, it may be angularly disposed, extending from floor to ceiling, and several separate devices can be used across any one door.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a room wall having inner frame members, a door frame defining an access opening in said wall, and a door for said opening hingedly supported along one edge thereof and equipped with a handle along its opposite edge, the improvement comprising: holding I element substantially encircling an inner frame member adjacent the door frame in a manner to shear the inner frame member by movement of said holding element in the direction in which the door swings open; locking means fixed to said holding element and extending through the inside surface of said wall; and security element having high tensile and shear strength, said security element being releasably fastened at one end to said locking means being disposed in bridging relation with the handle-equipped edge of the door, and being secured adjacent its opposite end portion in such bridging relation.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein a second holding element is fixed to an inner frame member of said wall adjacent the hinged edge of said door and the other end of said security element is secured to said second holding element.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said security element comprises an elastomeric belt having high tensile strength cables embedded therein.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said inner frame members are wall studs, said holding element is a U-bolt, and said locking means includes at least one leg of said U-bolt extending through the inside surface of said wall.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said security element has an aperture therein to pass said one leg of said U-bolt therethrough, and further comprising fastener means for releasably fastening said security element to said leg.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which said fastener means includes a threaded end of said one leg of said U-bolt and a nut removably received thereon to bear against said security element. 

1. In combination with a room wall having inner frame members, a door frame defining an access opening in said wall, and a door for said opening hingedly supported along one edge thereof and equipped with a handle along its opposite edge, the improvement comprising: holding element substantially encircling an inner frame member adjacent the door frame in a manner to shear the inner frame member by movement of said holding element in the direction in which the door swings open; locking means fixed to said holding element and extending through the inside surface of said wall; and security element having high tensile and shear strength, said security element being releasably fastened at one end to said locking means being disposed in bridging relation with the handle-equipped edge of the door, and being secured adjacent its opposite end portion in such bridging relation.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein a second holding element is fixed to an inner frame member of said wall adjacent the hinged edge of said door and the other end of said security element is secured to said second holding element.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said security element comprises an elastomeric belt having high tensile strength cables embedded therein.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said inner frame members are wall studs, said holding element is a U-bolt, and said locking means includes at least one leg of said U-bolt extending through the inside surface of said wall.
 5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said security element has an aperture therein to pass said one leg of said U-bolt therethrough, and further comprising fastener means for releasably fastening said security element to said leg.
 6. The combination of claim 5 in which said fastener means includes a threaded end of said one leg of said U-bolt and a nut removably received thereon to bear against said security element. 